The Re-melting pot
Years ago - or in the days of yore as I like to call ‘em my task as an apprentice printer was to cast the “pigs” for the Linotype/Intertype and Ludlow line casters, as such I always added a brick of tin and a brick of antimony to the pot. Can any of you oldtimers tell me how much tin and antimony I was adding to the pot for my notes on this stuff? I hesitate to call us “oldtimers” here because we were the best then and still are today…
Depends on use here is a link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_metal
The following is from U.K. perspective only, but the basic principle should hold good in Your neck of the woods.
Generally, (and until the final demise) the system was, House,s Running Hot Metal, - Ludlow, Linotype, Elrod & Monotype, would take a cross section, sample, from the biggest single source on the premises, as You imply the Re-Melting pot.
The sample would be sent away to our, last remaining (Printing metal) Suppliers Processors for analysis, they would supply a breakdown of what you overall content had degraded to, and supply a quantity of *Reviver* Ingots containing Tin & Antimony in the precise ratio(s), to bring the *House* metal back to normal operating standard.
If you have “plus metal” ingot, you add a weight equal to the amount of dross removed, after agitation.
All the plus metal I have seen is in ten-pound ingots.
Okay - I won’t use “brick” to replace the “ingot” - I was not sure of how many of us are still around re-melting lead type.
Now I know and that’s really cool! I would skim the dross and then “kinda” eyeball the dross for how much additional alloy I wanted. Not good. But what the heck did I know as a kid melting lead in a pot. I think the ingots were five pounds. These days I have a Metal Lab test my steel parts and give me an analysis - I think I’ll send a coupla Ludlow slugs to them for analysis and see what we get back?
To h.vhopper”: I like your term “Reviver Ingot” of tin and antimony - I will most certainly place that in my notes. Thank you.
Also known as “Plus Metal” Understand that not all of these ingots are of uniform composition. However, it will probably get you in the ball park for the most part. Unless you are casting a lot of metal and remelting, and tend to run your pots hot, “burning” the metal, loss of tin and antimony is probably not near the issue that machine and mat maintenance are.